Kaizen

‘Kaizen’ is a Japanese term when roughly translated means "change for the better" or "continuous improvement."

I first stumbled across this phrase in my old rugby days, when I had a performance review with some of the coaching team (I wasn't pulling my weight). Rather than a roasting, I saw it as a the gauntlet being thrown down.

It was revolutionary in my approach to training, coaching and life I guess….Now I see eyes getting rolled but think of it this way. If we can improve some facet of our lives daily it leads to mass change down the line, but this also comes with the added caveat of 'what's measured is managed'.

Now applying this to our health and fitness is difficult because it's not "sexy". We tend to be very numerical with our goals i.e lose X amount of weight, or squat X amount of weight. Worthy measurements of success, don't get me wrong (if the bar ain't bending your pretending) but they aren't the be all and end all.

Here's a few alternative measures of success to consider especially now as we all return to regularity and back to the gym after a very long lay off:

1) Health metrics (resting heart rate, blood pressure, sleep)
2) Movement quality
3) This one is my favourite; how do you "feel"? Measure, assess and correct. It sounds simple right? But it's much more difficult in practice.

As always, don't take life too seriously, remember no-one gets out alive.